


All Smiles

by redhonedge



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2018-10-12 17:42:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhonedge/pseuds/redhonedge
Summary: inspired by my own playthrough/painful journey up to zora’s domain, in which link finds prince sidon to be incredibly obnoxious… at first!journeying to the zora’s domain in order to battle with the divine beast ruta, link’s injuries from the monsters speckling the path there result in him spending more time getting to know sidon than fighting ruta.( sid/link ; multichaptered & still updating! rated mature for the time being for future chapters! )





	1. Chapter One

“You can make it, Link! I believe in you!”  
  
Clothes soaked through with blood and rain water alike, feet heavy, and eyes weighted from having been unable to sleep lest having a monster creep up, Link glowered down the bridge at the smiling Zora.  
  
”Hm.”  
”I’ll see you a little further down the river! There are some more monsters up ahead, but you will do fantastically, Link! I know this!”  
”… Hm.”  
  
A short wave of the hand (dismissive, truly, in nature, without much of the friendliness that the Prince’s bore) he watched Sidon give his trademark smile, flipping back into the water and vanishing downstream.  
It had been completely his own fault for taking up the Prince, out of pity, really, when requesting his assistance at the Zora’s Domain.  
He hadn’t thought much of the distance, believing he could take his stallion with him, who stamped and shuddered in the rain.

 

Sidon’s sheepish stare, after Link vowing to join him in Zora’s Domain and already being bound to his word, that revealed exactly how difficult the journey would be.

 

Lizalfos stationed at every half mile, the cliffsides too slick from the unending rain to clamber up, and the path too treacherous for Ander, his horse, to navigate without break a leg.  
And thus he had begrudgingly sent Ander back off the closest stable so in the very least __one__ of them could go without getting hypothermia, and donning the Sheikah clothes purchased in Kakariko, he set off with the goal of being as quiet as possible---and __hopefully__ not being killed.

 

And now, there Link stood, sopping wet and kept alive only by the mushrooms stashed away in his pouches, absently watching Sidon swim away.  
Idly did he wonder if the fogginess in his mind was from being sleep deprived, the blood loss, or a mixture of both.  
Gazing up the path ahead, and seeing an encampment of three Lizalfos, cozied up by a fire and out of the rain, he gave a low sigh, and reached for another mushroom.

 

 

“Ah, Link! You made it!”  
  
Sidon’s smile was broad and showed off every sharp tooth lined up in his mouth, unflinching in the face of Link breathing hard.  
Perhaps Link had seen a __tiny__ flicker of pity, maybe even guilt, in those bright yellow eyes as he tucked away his paraglider after having soared the last mile from the cliffside.  
It had been a merciful break from slashing and hacking his way through monster after monster, his life hanging on a thread at every moment.

 

“Come, come. I wish for you to meet my father, but you clearly need to rest. Your resilience is truly admirable, Link!”  
”Hm.”  
A low grunt was his only response, too weary to put the brain power into forming words and sending them down to be formed by his lips, only capable of mustering up a sigh when Sidon’s hands (surprisingly warm, he had always thought a zora would be as cold as the fish he would snag out of the rivers he had trekked along) clasped around his forearm.  
  
Sparing a quick glance around the Zora’s Domain, also victim to the endless rains, he observed the chattering zoras that gazed in his direction, and the next time he blinked, the world went dark.

 

  
”… Li… Link… __Link!__ ”  
  
”Gah!”  
  
__He had slept too long, they had finally gotten him,__ ** _ ** _he couldn’t die now---_**_**

 

“Link, Link, it’s okay! You’re okay!”  
With a slow blink, looking down at his hands, Link felt himself grow pale when seeing the sharp edge of a Lizalfos boomerang brushing against the damp underside of Sidon’s throat.  
Gentle hands clasped at his wrists, the sharp nails that could have so easily torn into them mindful of keeping away.  
  
”You’re alright,” Sidon continued to soothe, and Link jerkishly glanced to settle his eyes upon Sidon’s face, rather than where he had kept his weapon.  
”I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have startled you. As a man who has endured the same paranoia of monsters creeping up in my sleep, I should have known.”  
  
The blade’s edge was withdrawn, and with it, Sidon released a relieved sigh.  
”Thank you.”  
”Sorry.”  
  
Link’s eyes were downturned, voice a mumble as he slowly heaved himself up, and surveyed his surroundings.

 

The room was washed in a soft blue, crafted from the same glimmering stone as the exterior of Zora’s Domain---or what he had seen of it before passing out, that is.  
A curved archway gave him view of the outside, but it was otherwise rather private, with curtains available to conceal the inside.  
  
The entirety of the room seemed rather luxurious, considerably spacious with a bed and desk, crafted out of materials Link had never seen, likely so that they did not become ruined from the water.  
Looking around further, absorbing every intricate detail, Sidon finally seemed to notice Link’s observant stare after a moment spent massaging his neck.  
  
”Ah, that’s right! I was going to take you to the inn, but you had, ah…”  
Sidon rubbed at the back of his neck, sitting himself up.  
Noticing the faint red marks from where the blade had pressed against his neck, Link glanced back away, guilt causing his stomach to knot.  
”Passed out. I did not wish to leave you alone, and so I had taken you to my private quarters. You’ll have to pardon the mess,” And quickly did he get up, offering him an embarrassed smile as he swept up some papers and tucked them into a desk drawer, “It isn’t often I bring esteemed guests in here.”  
  
”I’m sorry for the burden,” Link mumbled, and nearly reached again for his weapon when Sidon jerked forward, grabbing his hands.  
”No! I am the burden for asking you to come here, not considering how dangerous of a journey it would have been! No mere Hylian would have been capable of making it.”  
  
His expression bore a true hurt before bowing in shame.  
”I only wish that I had accompanied you, that way, I could have given you some manner of protection. Rather than my… Particularly shoddy healing.”  
His eyes trailed to Link’s body, and in turn did Link gaze down as well.  
  
His shirt had been removed, leaving nothing but his tights, and the thick bandaging wrapping around his chest and arms.  
The spot where he had been struck by a shock arrow, right at the junction of his left shoulder and neck, had turned a light shade of red, and when attempting to move the limb, he grimaced.  
  
”I am not much of a healer, like my elder sister, but I like to believe I have handled enough of my own wounds that I can now somewhat take care of others.”  
Smile soft and somewhat humorous, for a moment did Link think of how it suited his face much better than the obnoxious grin he had given him dozens of times as he had trekked to Zora’s Domain.

 

“When you are feeling more rested,” Link didn’t even realize his hands were still held within Sidon’s until he let go, “I must request you to come visit my father and I in the throne room, where we may further discuss having your assistance. But I will not have you be doing anything until your wounds have healed.”  
Rising from where he had been situated upon his knees (Link was a touch startled by his height, having forgotten how truly tall he was), Sidon dipped into a low bow, and his head turned back up with that obnoxious grin.

 

Link immediately grimaced.

 

“If you need anything, Bisley, the guard posted outside, will happily assist you.”  
Sidon stood up proper, gesturing just outside of the archway.  
”I have some business to be discussed with my father, but be sure to visit us both soon, Link! We have much to talk about.”  
  
Watching him depart, Link waited for Sidon to be fully out of view before slumping onto the bed, reaching for his Sheikah Slate.  
Holding it above his lap, he squinted, imagining Impa’s face upon it.  
”I hope you’re happy,” he muttered to her, and in his mind’s eye, he could see her smile and playfully laugh.  
”I will be certain to go to the Gerudo Desert next… At least there, it won’t be so wet.”

 

 

Link slept for most of the day, exhaustion creeping back into his bones after changing his gauze. He hadn’t slept in a proper bed in weeks, dozing off by campfires, or on top of Ander, or one of the other horses he had stabled.  
In the case that Sidon may forget the last time he had made the mistake of awakening him, he left his boomerang at a distance, where his fumbling, groggy self could not grab it again and do harm.

 

By day three of his stay within the Zora’s Domain did he finally emerge from Sidon’s quarters, but not before finding a place to wash away the grit beneath his nails and the hardened blood on his skin.  
Changing his gauze and redressing in fresh clothes, it was not longer before they became damp upon stepping out, his hair clinging to his wet cheeks.  
  
”Ah, you are awake, Hylian!”  
Giving a slow blink, Link turned his attention to the guard posted nearby, eyes bright and attentive.  
”Prince Sidon had said you had quite serious wounds---I hadn’t thought you would have pulled through. You must be a strong Hylian indeed!”  
”…”  
”Ah, my manners! That seems to be a little too forward of me to say.”  
  
Swearing he had caught the Zora turning red ( _ _could__ Zoras turn red?) in embarrassment, he cleared his throat.  
”I am Binsley. If you need anything at all, please, let me know, and I will happily assist you.”  
  
Opening his mouth, having a request already in mind, Link’s eyes went wide at his stomach rumbled instead.  
Bursting out into laughter, Link flushed beneath Binsley’s understanding stare.  
  
”If food is what you need,” He lifted a finned arm, gesturing behind Link. “You will find the mess hall that way.”  
  
Nodding a quick, slightly embarrassed thanks, Link was just as quick to turn around and dart out of the rain, shuddering as he ducked beneath an overhang, shaking off some of the water.  
  
After a moment to collect his thoughts, and let the rain water drip off his clothes, he meandered in the direction Binsley had pointed him in, taking his time in observing the strange sort of beauty Zora’s Domain held.  
He was certain he must have visited it before the Great Calamity, for it all bore a slight sense of familiarity that he could not quite put his finger upon.  
Yet, it remained refreshing and new, the architecture otherworldly and so much different than any Hylian establishment he had visited during his travels.  
  
Stepping past a broad pool, smiling down upon the Zora children splashing in the water, nearly did he stumble over himself at the smell of cooked bass.

 

Rumbling again, feeling his stomach ache, his step quickened, until coming to a realization.

 

Mere feet from the archway leading to the dining area, the smell of food thick in the air despite all of the rain, he reached down to his pockets.  
None of his pouches were with him, including the wallet kept inside one of his bags.  
  
Cursing his own stupidity and forgetfulness, his eagerness to eat rising above all logic of __how__ to get the food to do so, he turned around, having every thought geared towards figuring out where his things had been left.  
Until his face squished right into a muscled abdomen, freezing up, mind going blank.

 

“Oh, ah, Link!”  
Cursing Hylia for damning him to this situation, Link slowly took an awkward step back, and gazed up to see Prince Sidon, looking equally as embarrassed.  
”Guess I should ensure my footsteps are louder next time, huh?” Sidon asked with a sheepish laugh, and Link offered a taut smile in return.  
”When I had gone to my quarters and found you gone, Binsley had been quick to inform me you had headed in this direction. I am surprised you are not already stuffing your face with some smoked bass!”  
  
Opening his mouth to provide an answer, he shut it, deciding instead actions were stronger than words as his pulled out his pockets, revealing them to be empty.  
Sidon blinked, realization dawning upon him.  
Hands settling on his hips, waiting for Sidon apology in being so presumptious, Link gasped when his forearm was seized, hauled off into the dining hall.  
  
”No problem!” Sidon chirruped, throwing a grin back to Link, who blinked in response. “I’ll have it handled!”

 

 

While his hunger was considerable, it was certainly not feast worthy.  
Or so Link thought, seeing that Sidon had assumed otherwise for him, laying out a grand spread upon one of the tables.  
From smoked bass glazed with honey and given a sweet nuttiness from acorns, to roasted mushrooms upon boar meat, every inch of the table was covered in a delectable item Link could only imagine in his dreams.  
However, it was difficult to eat when at the other side of him was a beaming Zora, practically __glowing__ from the excitement of bringing such fanciful meals to him.  
As he looked at him, Link noted that the way he appeared reminded him much of the dogs who took him to hidden treasures, looking so eager to please.

  
”Well? Is it not to your tastes?”  
Glancing between Sidon, and the fork he had been holding for well over a couple of minutes now without digging into a single item, Link cleared his throat, and looked around them.  
  
”Um…”  
  
Sidon was something else to handle in himself, but to be surrounded by a multitude of other Zora, completely obvious in their staring (and __drooling__ , as he noted one Zora in particular doing) at their Prince and companion.  
”Oh. That makes sense.”  
  
Giving a sharp wave and scolding stare, Sidon set his sights upon his people, who all, near instantaneously, cowered down.  
”Give us some privacy! You all have other things to be doing, and do not think I am not aware of this! Go, shoo!”  
A quick, shooing wave with his hands, and with muttered displeasure did the crowds disperse, Link’s shoulders slumping in relief.  
  
”Sorry about that. And I apologize for my straightforwardness, but you are not one much for talking, are you?”  
  
Chewing down a piece of salmon, Link took his time despite Sidon’s eager stare.  
”A warrior doesn’t need to talk much,” came his answer after swallowing, his fork reaching to try a bit of the boar he had seen.  
”Ah, this is true! However, I feel like there is so much for me to learn about you! You are an outstanding warrior, but is there anything else you enjoy in your sparetime?”  
  
__He talks a mile a minute,__  Link thought dryly, fork tapping at the edge of the porcelain platter until he finished chewing.  
”I enjoy horseback riding,” he offered, and for a brief moment, Sidon’s eyes __glowed__.  
  
”Horses are magnificent beasts! I am not one for riding myself, given my size and preference for water over land, but I have seen much of the wonders to it. You must show me how you are upon your horse---it was Ander, right?”  
  
His chewing stopped altogether, Link blinking in genuine surprise.  
”… You remembered his name?”  
”Of course! He is just as important as you are. I am certain any companion of yours is!”  
  
The horses he rode were often his only companions as he roamed Hyrule in seek of an end to Calamity Ganon, and beyond those who worked at the stables he visited, never had he met someone who bothered to recall the names of the animals who were his only company.  
”He is rather important,” Link agreed after a moment, and offering Sidon a soft smile. For a second, he thought he witnessed the Prince becoming __flustered__ , only to assume it a trick of the eye when it seemed to instantly melt away.  
  
”When you show me your abilities on horseback, you will have to give me a proper introduction. A companion of the esteemed Hylian Link is a companion I must meet,” Sidon chirruped.  
  
For once, Link thought little of how obnoxious he had found Sidon to be, and instead discovered his cynical mind melting away in the wake of being able to have a pleasant conversation outside of his duties as a knight, the pair swapping stories and sharing food, their shared laughter echoing off of the walls of the dining hall.


	2. Chapter Two

“... She was your sister?”  
  
The grand statue was almost imposing, were it not for the gentle expression upon its face. Kindly and soft, nurturing in nature, it struck the same tone of familiarity as the rest of the Domain.  
Yet, he could not put a name to it.  
Not until Sidon piped up with it, that is.  
  
”Yes, the Champion Mipha. She is my elder sister--er, was, I guess. Wording is always clunky when trying to speak of her, but she had fallen in battle against the Calamity Ganon.”  
Gaze drifting from the immaculate statue, near lifelike in appearance, to Sidon, his stomach twisted in sympathy when seeing the flash of pain upon the Prince’s face.  
”I was still young when she died. I never got to know her well, but I have bits and pieces of memories to hang on to, alongside that of the elders.”  
  
His smile recovered, yet the grief behind it was poorly veiled.  
”You miss them every day, however, the grief becomes easier to manage. In her memory I have strove even harder to become the prince that my people need, especially now that I am to claim the throne upon my father’s stepping down.”  
  
Link watched as Sidon’s lingered upon his sister’s immortalized image before the Prince shook himself out of it, looking back upon him properly.  
”Do you have any siblings, Link?”  
  
Opening his mouth to answer, only to find no answer could come, he shut it, and frowned.  
”… I do not remember.”  
  
Blinking, and then looking startled, Sidon gaped.  
”You don’t remember?”  
”I lost my memory... A long time ago.”  
  
Was it during his deep slumber, or perhaps when Calamity Ganon had struck him down, stripping his mind of any memory of his past?  
The fact he could not even remember that was frustrating, and he turned away, scowling at the water-slick stone.  
  
”… I’m sorry. If I hit a raw nerve, it is my fault entirely.”  
Nearly flinching at the soft touch of Sidon’s hand on his shoulder, wondering if they were all so touchy among the Zora, Link shook his head, and brushed off his hand.  
”It’s fine. It is coming back in bits and pieces.”  
  
He could remember that he had a father who, too, had been a knight before him. While he could not remember his father himself, he could recall that tidbit of information from the memory of he and Princess Zelda overlooking Hyrule Field.  
She had seemed so forlorn in acknowledging her fate as a princess.  
He wished he had said something comforting to her at the time.  
  
They stood in silence for a minute longer, Sidon gazing upon Link in slight worry that he had done something to offend him, while Link was instead brewing over the memories he had thus far recalled, wondering what crucial details he had lost with his memories.  
  
”… If you are feeling well enough for it, I must ask that you come with me to the throne room. We have much to be discussed with my father,” Sidon finally added, voice careful, trying to gauge how Link may react.  
A moment of silence longer, and Link nodded, hands settling upon his hips as he gazed up to Sidon.  
  
”Take me to him.”

 

Link was left __gaping__ at the sight of the King, having to tilt his head straight up in order to gaze upon King Dorephan.  
  
”You do not remember me, Champion?”  
  
He had not heard his prior statement, nor had he noticed Sidon’s jolt of shock at realizing that he had brought not only a Hylian to assist them in their quest to appease Ruta, but the Champion thought to be long dead.  
”Amazing! You were the Champion of the Hylians all this time, Link?!”  
  
Glancing between the pair, his mind moreso fixated on whether or not Sidon would grow to be as large as his father, or if it was simply a trait unique to the King himself, he looked to Dorephan, shook his head, and then to Sidon, and nodded.  
  
”I lost my memory, and if what I am told is correct, and what little I remember, I had been the Champion,” he confirmed, and as Sidon looked upon him in awe, Dorephan pursed his lips and scratched at his jaw.  
”What a shame… To think, you had been alive all this time, yet your memory gone. It is a price you must pay, I suppose, in return for living. But it is good timing that Prince Sidon found you, for we are in dire need of your help…”

  
”You cannot possibly think you are ready to face the Lynel as you are!”  
  
Readjusting the Zora Armor, gazing silently upon how well it fit to his form, Link looked back to Sidon.  
”It’s what I must do. To think I managed to forget her…”  
  
Princess Mipha, __Champion__ Mipha; the one destined to guide the Divine Beast, and the one who had fallen in love with him.  
Had he known at the time?  
Had he planned on becoming engaged to her once they had defeated Calamity Ganon?  
  
As distinctly as he could recall that instance in which she had healed his arm, such warm love in her eyes, he struggled to remember his own emotions.  
He struggled to deal with that she had been so deeply in love with him, that she had gone into battle, and died.  
  
”Mipha would not want you charging off so quickly when your wounds are still healing---”  
”If we had been successful, she’d be __here__ to heal them!”  
  
Lips pulled back into a snarl, fingers sinking tight into the shoulders of the armor he had been adjusting, he hadn’t noticed his own simmering temper until it all came flooding out.  
Instantly, regret flooded him, watching Sidon go from shock, to hurt, to a quiet acceptance, looking away.  
  
”… Sidon, I’m sorry, it’s just hard---”  
”I understand. You never got to grieve. You just forgot, and now, you are forced to feel this pain for someone you barely remember.”  
  
Sighing, it was a long few seconds until Sidon looked back to him, his fingers clasping the doorway, his face bearing a sorrow that Link found indescribable.  
”But please. Understand that my sister had gone to war knowing the possibilities, whether she may live, or die. And likewise, she would want you to take care of yourself, even if she is not here to do so for you.”  
  
His gaze hovered upon Sidon for only a second longer before looking away, incapable of maintaining his gaze.  
”If she is not here to protect you, then I will take her place, Link. Now, please… Please rest before you hurt yourself further.”  
  
He did not need to look to see Sidon walking away, his fading footsteps enough to bring him back to the bed to sit down, and think.

 

 

Nightfall had long since fallen when he crept out of Sidon’s quarters and past where Binsley snoozed.  
His clothes, once tattered, had been repaired during his long rest, yet he had no time to admire what had been made good as new.  
  
Adjusting his bow upon his back, double-checking his stock of arrows and seeing to it that he had an array of weapons at the ready in the case any one of them broke, he headed for the east bridge.  
He knew most of the Zora to be asleep aside from the few guards staying true to their duties, easily creeping around them and making his way back to the main path.  
The low glow of the blue posts, their luminous stone providing guidance to where he needed to go, looking up to the looming Ploymous Mountain.  
Slowly did he straighten from his crouch, no guard up ahead to prevent him from making his way to where the Lynel laid in wait.  
  
”Did you ignore Mipha like you have done to me?”  
  
His bow was drawn sooner than Sidon could blink, yet the Prince stood unwavering, staring down the shaft of his arrow straight into Link’s eyes.  
”… I’m not patient,” Link answered gruffly, withdrawing his weapon>  
  
”Then I am coming with you,” decidedly Sidon replied, striding past Link before he could see his look of shock.  
”But--you’ll get killed!”  
”And? So will you! The Lynel is no laughing manner, and you are by no means geared for fighting against such a beast.”  
  
Giving Link a once over, Sidon turned back, gazing up to where the Lynel supposedly waited.  
  
”We will have to be quick, and collect the arrows without it paying notice to us. If you wish to fight it, that shall be reserved for another day, as we have more pressing matters at stake.”  
  
”And you aren’t worried about being electrocuted? I might get hurt, but you might---”  
  
”We’ve already gone over this.”  
  
Turning to face him, Sidon grinned and flexed an arm.  
”I’m stronger than most Zora! How could I be their prince if I can’t handle a little bit of electricity?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Link shoved past, fixing up his bun and glancing up to the waterfall ahead.  
”We will have to see. You said this armor will let me climb the waterfalls, right?”  
  
Jogging to catch up, falling into step with Link, Sidon gave a confirming nod, looking over the waterfall.  
”You will be able to swim right up it as if you are a Zora as well! But, it will be much easier for me to do all of the work. I am strong enough to carry you, and I may as well as use this to our advantage so you do not end up fatigued.”  
With a second flex, Sidon dashed off to the edge of the pool, doing a spinning backflip into the water, with Link staring wide-eyed at the feat of athleticism.  
  
And this visibly did not go unnoticed by Sidon himself, who grinned with pride as he floated to the surface.  
”Come on! Jump onto my back!”  
  
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Link ran and jumped onto Sidon’s shoulders, slipping down to wrap his legs around his torso as the Prince swam towards the waterfall.  
”Hang on!”  
  
With fingers digging into his shoulders, Link felt a rush of air around his face before it all turned into cold water, and within the same instant it seemed, they were flying back up and splashing down into a second pool.  
Hair dripping wet and chest heaving hard from the adrenaline, Sidon hollered, splashing down an arm in excitement.  
  
”Woo! That was __great!__  I swear, I’m only getting faster at this!”  
Grin bigger than ever, he looked back at where Link still held on.  
”You okay back there?”  
  
Managing to give a sharp nod after taking a moment to catch his breath, readjusting his grip on Sidon, Sidon turned back around, looking up to the next waterfall.  
”Alright, let’s do this!”

  
By the time they had reached the top of the mountain within a few minutes time, they both were breathing hard.  
Link, from being beaten down by the rushing water of the waterfall and the adrenaline rush of clinging to Sidon, and Sidon himself, for swimming as fast as he could up each and every one, trying to beat his record from the last.  
  
Heaving himself onto the shoreline after letting himself slip off of Sidon’s back, flopping down onto sweet, sweet solid ground, his eyes idly tracked Sidon’s own progression from the pond, to laying down next to him.  
”Didn’t… Even break… a sweat,” Sidon panted, trying to get up to play off his own exhaustion only to follow Link’s lead in flopping back down.  
  
Observing Sidon gasping to catch his breath, it was in that instant Link realized, __he was showing off__.  
Not letting him use the armor, having him ride on his back, trying to go faster up each waterfall--- _ _he had been attempting to impress him.__  
  
And evidently, also trying to impress him with how little it had fazed him, yet that was mostly unsuccessful.  
  
 _ _Why__ , however, he had decided this necessary went unknown, and instead of dwelling upon it (or __worse__ , gathering up the courage to confront Sidon on the matter), he heaved himself back up into an upright position.  
”We don’t have much time before daybreak,” Link huffed, pushing off his knee to stand up.  
”The moment it gets light, we’ll lose the cover of darkness, and the Lynel will see us.”  
  
Perking up, and quickly following suit, Sidon dusted off the sand clinging to his damp skin, and looked up the path ahead.  
  
”The Lynel should be waiting for us there,” he concluded, “If Muzu was correct. We should be able to collect the arrows, and get out of there quickly. You ready to do this?”  
Nodding, Link took his boomerang, and dropped it.  
  
”Wait---what are you doing?! Won’t you need that if it wakes up?!”  
”It makes too much noise, and it’ll attract electricity if it DOES wake up. I’ll still have my bow and a quiver full of arrows,” Link reached back and patted the aforementioned quiver, “if we need them. We just need to be quick enough to get what we need, and get out.”  
  
Twenty arrows. They only needed twenty arrows, and upon checking, Link had found he already had thirteen.  
They only needed a handful more of shock arrows, and then they should head back, and prepare for their fight against the Divine Beast.  
  
The thought alone was enough to make his stomach lurch.  
  
”Well, then let’s get this over with,” Sidon grunted, reaching out to give a tug on Link’s hand, and then heading on ahead up the path.  
 _ _He sure does like leading the way__ , Link thought, quickly shoving his boomerang into the bushes where he would come back to it later, and trotting to catch up.  
  
The path was not long, and it did not take long at all to reach the top of the mountain, thank to Sidon’s swift traveling up the waterfalls.  
Silently thankful to not have to endure any more long journeys, at least not for now, he quickly brought an index finger to his lips, motioning to a neighboring tree.  
  
Shoved in deep, only the shaft exposed, the end of the arrow crackled with electricity, where feathers might had been instead electricity held together with magic, giving the shock arrows their shock.  
”That’s easy,” Sidon muttered next to him, looking around the open area, noting each tree that had an arrow stuck in side of it.  
Some of them even had more than one, easy pickings for a small, quick Hylian.  
  
”You stay here,” Link instructed, crouching low and evaluating the best places to hide.  
”And I’ll go grab them.”  
  
”But---”  
”Keep watch.”  
  
His eyes landed upon Sidon, serious and focused. This was __his__ element, truly most at ease when he felt he was back in the warzone.  
”Warn me if you see the Lynel, and I’ll come running and we’ll regroup. I’m not going to be focused much on looking around, so I’ll need you to be my eyes. Okay?”  
  
There was something __else__ that flickered in Sidon’s eyes besides mere acknowledgment, and before Link could place a finger on it, it was gone, replaced by the same serious look.  
”Got it. Be careful, okay?”  
  
Nodding, and pulling up his mask to cover his mouth and nose, he turned and vanished into the brush.  
His plan was to be quick, darting from tree to tree, grabbing an arrow, and then figuring out where the next and going to it as quickly as he could.  
It was difficult, maintaining a crouch while trying to be light on his feet.  
Every step onto a tree branch, every accidental splash in a puddle, and Link would freeze, gaze darting around, tense as he waited for a stampede of hooves coming to trample him.  
  
Yet, nothing would emerge.  
A bird would chirp nearby.  
A goat, wandering the cliffside, darted away, baaing as it bolted down the mountain.  
  
The quiet was near eerie, and the task of collecting arrows far too simple for Link’s liking.  
  
And he saw why when he stood upright to grab an arrow too high up for him to remain crouched, his gaze drifting to see Sidon doing the same.  
His fingers stretched, reaching for an arrow that was embedded in a branch just within his reach, his eyes fixated on the arrow and the arrow alone.  
  
It was what Sidon had been designated to look for that made Link know exactly why this was not meant to play out as he had hope, and what caused him to feel so __sick__.

 

“ ** **SIDON,**** ** _ ** _RUN!_**_** ”  
  
Sidon jerked away from the arrow at his scream, eyes blown wide as they looked between where Link was running as fast he could for him, and then to the Lynel standing behind.  
Jaw going slack, he stumbled back, tripping over one of the roots of the tree he had been leaning against and hitting the ground with a grunt.  
Hands fumbling, digging into the soil as he tried to jerk back, Sidon looked up the shaft of the Lynel’s drawn arrow, the electricity that crackled down it illuminated his face, the shadows from it dancing across his form.  
  
”No, no, no, no!”  
He wasn’t fast enough, _ _he wasn’t going to make it.__ _ _  
__Every foot fall felt like he was running through molasses, feeling as if he were trying to run in a dream where everything still stayed stationary.  
  
It all went in slow motion.  
The Lynel, bow drawn, arrow plucked back and nigh upon release.  
Sidon, fumbling back, with no time to lift himself up and run away, staring death in the face.  
  
Link did not think as his hands reached back, muscle memory guiding him to bow and quiver, drawing and aiming.  
His right foot hit the ground, and in the instant of having something solid to brace himself against, he let the arrow fly, watching it soar through the air.  
  
The Lynel did not see it, and Link damned himself for not making some noise, not distracting the beast to look away, away from where Sidon lay.  
  
And in that same slow motion, he watched as his arrow struck the Lynel point blank, and watched as its spasming muscles from the hit let loose the arrow it had already drawn, screeching down for Sidon.  
  
” ** _ ** _NO!_**_** ”  
  
His scream was not enough to halt the arrow in its path, still too far away to try and deflect the bow, too far away to take the hit.  
Sidon’s scream nearly made his run slow, nearly brought him to his knees at the thought that he had let him die.  
He had been so stupid, that not only had he drawn Mipha to her death, but her brother, too.  
He was walking bad luck, bringing death and destruction wherever he went.  
  
And it was truly, utterly, all his fault.  
  
His stride stuttered, paying no mind to the roaring Lynel, who had jerked back to cover its face and feel for the arrow lodged in its skull.  
His stumbling walk was aimed to where Sidon still lay, limp and motionless, surely __dead__.  
He was a Zora, susceptible to electricity.  
They all risked death when faced against shock arrows.  
This was fact.  
  
”Sidon, Sidon I’m sorry,” he gasped, breathing hard. The arrow wound in his shoulder reopened, and lifting the arm hurt. Drawing the bow had been too much, and drained what was left out of him.  
”I’m sorry,” Link said, choking back a sob as he crumpled down, crawling to where he was, aware that the Lynel would not take much longer to recover, and come after him twice as furious.  
His hand reached, and with his good arm he went to touch him.  
  
”I shouldn’t have let you come, I should have known you were too good to simply sit back and watch. You’d want to help, and get yourself killed,” he wept, tear drops falling onto Sidon’s dried skin, his fingers gripping his shoulder to try and pull him near.  
”I should have---”  
  
He froze, palm brushing against Sidon’s chest.  
  
And when he pressed it back down, letting it linger, he felt movement. A shallow, barely-there rise of his chest, and when carefully moving around the scorch marks from the arrow and where it was plunged into his shoulder, ear against his mouth, he felt a warm puff of air.  
  
He was __alive__.  
Despite taking a shock arrow dead on, he had __survived__ , and still had a chance to live.  
  
”Fuck,” Link gasped, looking up to the Lynel, slowly shaking itself out as it finished removing the arrow, and to Sidon’s unconscious form, too heavy to easily carry.  
”Fuck, fuck, __fuck__.”  
  
They had to get out of there, before they both wound up dead, whether it be stomped to death by the Lynel’s hooves, or by another pair of shock arrows that would not miss this time.  
Link couldn’t shoot an arrow and carry Sidon at the same time, effectively crippling their one, decent shot at defending themselves, especially when Sidon was not awake to assist in doing so.  
  
Forearms hooking beneath Sidon’s armpits, with a shuddering grunt he heaved him back, sliding him along the soft grass towards the path they had come from, his feet stamping hard against the ground to try and move as quickly as possible.  
”I’m so sorry if I hurt you more,” he gasped, eyes frantic as they watched the Lynel beginning to look for them again.  
”Trust me, this hurts… The both of us…”  
  
The path crept nearer, and Link damned it for not magically appearing next to them, and saving him the trouble of having to drag Sidon any further.  
Muscles aching and tired, his bad arm nigh upon becoming uncooperative after such punishment, his adrenaline rush was fading when the Lynel looked up, and it was nearly gone when he saw it running for them, and felt its hooves shaking the earth.  
  
”I’m not ready to die,” Link whispered, clutching Sidon to his body, watching the Lynel approach.  
His eyes shot back behind them, seeing nothing but open air. If they fell, they’d certainly die. But if they stayed…  
”And neither are you.”  
  
The Lynel gave a roar, its front hooves rearing up before them, ready to stomp down, and Link jerked back.  
  
Solid earth gave way to nothing but air, wind rushing around them as they plummeted.  
Arms still tight around Sidon, feeling them falling only faster with their combined weight, Link fumbled, panicking, struggling to undo the paraglider attached to his belt.  
  
”Come on, come on, come on!”  
  
The trees rose up faster than he could keep up with, images of being skewered alive flashing rapidly in the forefront of his mind.  
His fingers snagged the edges of the paraglider, ripping it away from his person.  
By reflex, his hand reached up to snag the handle while the other still hung onto Sidon, and instantly did he scream, feeling the wound in his shoulder stretch and rip.  
  
Their descent slowed, and the split second he had been able to hang on was just enough, fingers slipping off near instantly as they came crashing into the brush.  
Rolling and tumbling, the paraglider cracking itself against a tree as the pair slowly rolled to a stop, Link sputtered and gasped, struggling to not scream from the pain that felt much like his shoulder had been ripped from its socket.  
  
Blood and sweat soaked, he laid still for a moment, recovering himself as he listened to Sidon’s soft, slow breathing, reassuring himself that he was not alone in this.  
And it was this fact that got him to heave up, kept him moving lest they both died from his inability to keep them alive.  
  
”… Where… where are we?”  
Link looked around, the forest unfamiliar, and the endless horizon of trees doing no better in helping him.  
Hands shaking, grip unsteady, he managing to pull up his Sheikah Slate, drawing up a map.  
  
Blank.  
  
An area unexplored, it remained a dark, unmarked blue, and he had forgotten to log the shrine within Zora’s Domain to ensure a quick and easy way back.  
Fumbling with the device some more, thinking of how quick and easy it would be to travel, he glanced back to Sidon.  
  
If he couldn’t take his horses with him when he traveled, did that mean he couldn’t take another person, either?  
  
And he didn’t even have his weapon, left behind by the waterfall, alongside the others meant to replace it in the case it broke.  
  
Groaning at their circumstances, smacking himself in the forehead for getting too cocky, he slowly sat back down, looking over to Sidon.  
  
”… First things first, we need to take care of both of our wounds. And then… I guess we’re going to have to see what we’re going to do then…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading so far! :D  
> this was really a sudden whim sort of story, but it's been a bunch of fun already!
> 
> chapter three will likely be uploaded soon if i still feel this pumped later!  
> i have some other plans for some sidlink stuff (some of it even naughty ;))) that you may end up finding over on my patreon @ ingloriousfanfics, where i plan on uploading some exclusive stuff!
> 
> let me know how you like the fic thus far, any feedback is well appreciated!!


	3. Chapter Three

“L… Li… Link…?”  
  
The rising dawn of the sun felt near blinding, Link feeling a wistful ache for the campfire he had made the night before. Its dim light was far preferred to the light washing over the forest, forcing him to peel open weary eyes, and for his mind to sharpen to the voice softly calling to him.  
Blinking groggily, feeling a stick prod into his side as he rolled over, he sat up and peeled away the leaf that had stuck to his cheek, glanced back over his shoulder.  
  
”Link…?”  
  
Eyes coming into focus, and mind recalling the events of the day before, from groggy and out of it, he snapped to attention, jerking over to where Sidon lay.  
  
”Don’t move, don’t move,” he soothed, hands gently pressing against the Prince’s shoulders as he attempted to rise.  
The fact he was awake was stunning in itself, especially after a near fatal shot like that.  
  
Bleary-eyed, squinting against the light, Sidon gazed weakly up to him, face morphing into a look of exhausted confusion.  
”What…?”  
”You got hit by the Lynel’s arrow. We barely made it out.”  
  
Grimacing, Sidon looked away, propping his head up enough to survey himself.  
Link’s gaze followed, looking over to the charred, blackened skin where the arrow had struck, fading into faint purpling around the edges.  
It had bruised quickly, and without any proper medical equipment, the best he had been able to do was remove the arrow and stop the bleeding.  
Cleaning it up and allowing it to scab and heal as naturally as possible was not a preferred method, but there was not much else to be done.  
  
”You’re… you’re hurt.”  
  
”Hm?”  
  
Link, focused intently upon Sidon’s injury and evaluating what herbs he could find in the forest to help bring along the healing process, looked away to his own shoulder.  
”It’s fine. It was from before---it tore back open when we fell.”  
”We _fell?_ ”  
  
Shrugging, Link eased up onto his haunches to prod at the fire, grabbing some of the tree branches he had snagged the night before to toss it back on top.  
”It was better than dying. I don’t know where we are, but once you are healed enough to be able to manage by yourself, I’ll trek on ahead to find the Domain.”  
  
His mind eased into the fog of exhaustion as he absently stared at the flame roaring back up to consume the branch, embers sparking back to life as if they had never died to begin with.  
At the back of Link’s mind, he thought about how one of his old, scabbing wounds itched.

 

“ _ _Alone?__ ”  
Hearing Sidon getting back up, __again__ , was enough to snap him out of his dazed trance, reaching out to him.  
”I swear to __Hylia__ , you need to stop getting up! How are you even moving?!”  
  
”I told you, I’m a prince. I’m made of some… Strong stuff.” Wincing as he was nudged back down, Link’s gentle touch still not enough to keep his shoulder from twinging in pain, he pouted.  
”It hit my shoulder, not my head. How am I supposed to simply lay here, while you go off and potentially get yourself killed? I feel __pathetic__ \--”  
  
”--and you __should__ ,” Link intervened, much to Sidon’s chagrin.  
”You nearly got killed. It’s __your__ princely attitude about trying to save my butt and be the hero, when that’s __my__ job, that’s going to get us BOTH killed. When I tell you to do something, you need to listen. You may be smart in the water, but I’m smart on land.”  
  
Flinching at the scolding, like a shamed child did Sidon look down, letting his head settle on the bed of leaves sloppily put together by Link.  
He had almost forgotten his half-haphazard attempt to get them somewhat situated upon crashing down.  
  
”… I only wish to help.”  
”And you __will__.”  
  
Link’s hand reached to squeeze Sidon’s good shoulder, his gaze reassuring as their eyes met.  
  
”But you won’t be any help if you don’t rest. I refuse to be the cause of your father losing __both__ of his children, rather than just one.”  
With a wince, Link sat up, and then got to his feet with a stiff stretch, dabbing at his shoulder.  
Cloth torn from his face covering had been used to bandage it as bed as he could, and while still damp with blood, the bleeding had evidently stopped, which was good enough for him.  
Good enough for heading off into the wood and hunting herbs.  
  
”And before you say anything,” Link lifted his bow and quiver, “I still can protect myself. I lost some of my arrows, but I have enough to get by. I just need to find some herbs.”  
Reaching down and pulling off his Sheikah Slate, with a quick couple of taps, a screen displaying the herbs necessary to help them both popped up, a sensor giving soft, quiet pings.  
He turned it around so Sidon could see.  
  
”This will show me to them. I’ll make sure to be quick. So please, stay by the fire, and if you need me, whistle. I’ll be sure to hear you.”  
  
Hesitant, looking uncertain with the plan given, Sidon was quiet for a long, few seconds before he gave a short, quick nod.  
”I trust you,” he murmured, and Link felt a sudden tug at his heart.  
  
It was an odd feeling, but he assumed it to be born from his guilt over Mipha and how she, too, had once trusted him.  
An icy chill clamped onto his spine at the idea of Sidon falling victim to the same fate for having such blind trust in him.  
  
”If I am not back by nightfall,” his gaze rose up, looking to the sky, “then I want you to--”  
”You __will__ be back.”  
  
Startled by the force of Sidon’s words, his weakened voice gaining strength for his stern statement, Link turned his head back.  
”You will be back,” Sidon insisted. “And we’ll get out of this together. Okay?”  
  
Smiling, Link nodded, readjusting his bow.  
”I’ll be back.”  
With a lingering glance, he pulled up his hood, and headed off into the trees, feeling Sidon’s eyes upon him until he left his sights as he followed the guidance of the Sheikah Slate.

 

 

It was nearly nightfall by the time Link came lumbering back to their makeshift camp, having lost his way a number of times.  
Even upon gathering the herbs and plants necessary, he had __stupidly__ forgotten to mark their location on the map, mumbling and cursing and kicking every other rock in frustration.  
This was the __basics__ of traveling, and yet, it was as if that fall had rattled his brains, and caused him to forget every little thing he had learned.  
  
It was the smoke drifting through the tree tops (after climbing to a higher spot, with some difficulty from his shoulder, to evaluate where he was) that signaled to him where to go.  
  
After several minutes of fighting through brush, hiding from the occasional monster wandering aimlessly through the forest, and some quick hunting, he arrived.  
The sun’s light was dimming, and the stars had already begun to peek out from the sky, their soft light much gentler on his weary eyes.  
  
”Link!”  
  
Head jerking up, going from tiredly staring at the ground to looking to the voice, he stood flabbergasted at the sight of Sidon struggling to stand, fingers digging into a trunk.  
  
”Oh __Hylia__ , I thought you had died! You hadn’t come back yet and I--I was going to go and try find you and then I heard this __noise__ and I thought--”  
His rant kept up until Link’s palms touched to his cheeks, Sidon’s eyes going wide, and then softening, going half-lidded, and then completely shutting.  
  
”I’m here, aren’t I? Look,” and Sidon obediently opened his eyes, “the sun is still shining, and night has not entirely fallen. I was lost, is all.”  
  
”I was worried,” Sidon mumbled, his cheek leaning into Link’s touch, and agan did Link think of how __warm__ he was.  
And he also thought of how it was a miracle he had been able to reach up to touch him, given their broad difference in height.  
But Sidon was still slouched from trying to stand, half-kneeling and struggling to remain upright.  
  
”Let me worry for you,” Link replied, and upon realizing the strange sort of intimacy that holding his face in his hands was, he pulled back.  
He tried not to think too hard on how __disappointed__ Sidon look for a second, the Prince allowing him to usher him back down to his spot by the fire.  
  
”I found what I needed,” he jostled a bag full of plants and meats, alongside a fish he had managed to catch in a neighboring stream, “So I don’t need to leave any time soon. But we need to focus on getting __both__ of us back into decent condition, so we can head back. Can you sit up?”  
  
Giving a nod, with some tentative maneuvering, and mindfulness of his injury, Sidon sat down and crossed his legs, his gaze tracking Link as he went to a tree and snapped off its lower branches.  
”I was taught some basic treatments when I visited Kakariko,” Link began to explain, pushing the branches into the ground, and then stabbing some mushrooms and meat onto their ends so that they hovered over the flames, “to help with healing wounds like ours. It won’t be much, but it’ll be enough.”  
  
Sitting down after double-checking his arrangement, he reopened his bag, fishing out the herbs he had gathered throughout the forest.  
Not all of it were things he had recognized, but with the assistance of the Sheikah Slate and its broad range, he had been able to decide between necessary and unnecessary.  
  
”This is going to sting a little bit, okay?”  
”Mm.”  
  
Even with his warning, Sidon still grimaced as one of the mashed-up herbs was smeared onto his charred shoulder, only to sigh beneath Link’s touch.  
  
In silence he worked, neither speaking as he worked the herb into his skin, the air filled with nothing but nighttime noises, and the crackling of the fire.  
It wasn’t until Link leaned back to check on their food that Sidon spoke up, words stumbling out without thought.  
  
”Did you love my sister, Link?”  
” _ _What?__ ”  
  
Nearly did he burn himself on the roasting bass at the question, shaking out his hand and blowing on it gently to disperse the bit of hot skin that had peeled off.  
”I’m sorry, it just--it just came out, it’s been on my mind and---”  
”… I don’t know.”  
”Huh?”  
  
Blowing gently on the bass, watching the steam rolling off, he offered it, still on the stick, to Sidon, who tentatively accepted it.  
  
”I can remember her, but I don’t… Remember, my feelings for her.”  
Taking a skewer with a mushroom, tilting the others away so they would no longer cook in the flames, he watched the steam roll up.  
”I remember that she was beautiful, and that she was often there for me. But when it comes to my thoughts, or emotions on her…”  
  
It all came up blank.  
Did he love her?  
Did he see her as nothing but a friend?  
  
There was a sort of bitterness that came with never being able to give her closure before her death, never being able to either love her, or cherish her as a friend.  
She deserved an answer, and if he had ever supplied it, or even __hinted__ at it, went unknown.  
It was among the worst things of not being able to remember.  
  
”… I’m sorry. It must be hard.”  
  
Sidon’s bass was untouched, the Prince staring solemnly down into his lap.  
”She spoke often of you, from what I can recall, and she worked so diligently in order to be able to help you. I had always wondered if you two had been…”  
He trailed off, but Link did not need him to finish.  
  
”I don’t remember if we ever did anything about it. Whether I had… Feelings for her, or if she made an effort for us to become something more…”  
Link shrugged.  
”But, it’s in the past now. Even if I was to love her still, that wouldn’t mean much now, would it?”  
  
Looking as if he were truly trying to decide whether or not it would, Link reached out and gave Sidon a gentle push.  
”Don’t worry about it. Now, eat up. Starving won’t do us any good, and I need you to get back your strength. What, weren’t you the strongest Zora of all or something?”  
  
Perking up, Link feeling relief at how quickly Sidon bounced back, he grinned as the other took a large bite, talking through a mouthful, “O’course I am!”  
  
Grinning back with a mouthful of fish, they both laughed, the nighttime air soon filled with their jokes and laughter until everything was eaten, the fire died, and they both fell asleep, inevitably finding themselves tucked against one another for warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo! and here is chapter three!  
> what's more romantic than sitting by a campfire after nearly dying??  
> nothing, obviously!
> 
> don't know when i will be able to write chapter four, but as always, your feedback is appreciated and very much loved! :DD


	4. Chapter Four

“When I had looked out over the trees, I saw the river out that way. If we can make it to there, we can follow it back to Zora’s Domain.”  
  
Sitting cross-legged, stick in hand, Link etched out a makeshift map in the dirt for them both to see, drawing a line alongside the triangles meant to designate trees, and guiding it to an ‘x’, where Zora’s Domain lay in wait.  
”We have the shock arrows we need, we just need to get back so we can… Go from there, I guess.”  
  
His lips pursed, considering the path ahead.  
They _both_ nearly died against that Lynel, and who would suppose they’d be any match for the Divine Beast?  
Vah Ruta was no laughing matter, and considerably more of a fight than any Lynel one may find.  
Muzu had said they only were in need of twenty shock arrows to ensure success against Ruta and in order for Link to slip inside and defeat whatever poison had control of her, but it seemed too simple.  
Too easy.

“We’ll make it to the river by nightfall, set up camp, and wait until tomorrow to finish our trek.”  
  
”By nightfall? Isn’t that rather late, just to get to the river?”  
  
Peering up from the map to where Sidon frowned down, looking between the drawn river, and the circle marking their location.  
”We’re both injured. It’d be faster if we weren’t, but there is nothing we can do about it now. Likely, we won’t be able to use your ability to swim up the river, either, as your shoulder…”  
  
He trailed off, trying not to wince when glancing to Sidon’s wound.  
The blackened, dead skin had begun to peel away, exposing healing pink flesh. The herb had done its work in assisting with the healing process and speeding it up some, but it would still take til the end of the week, by Link’s estimate, for it to fully recover, if even that.  
It’d certainly leave a nasty scar, one that no amount of herbs could wash away.  
  
”I see,” Sidon said, looking solemn.  
  
”Don’t worry. We’ll make it back.”  
  
”I’m not worried.”  
  
”… You’re not?”  
  
Sidon’s gaze lifted, and their eyes met, the Prince’s stern look melting away into a light-hearted grin.  
”I have the esteemed Hylian Champion with me, do I not? Us together are an unstoppable team!”  
  
Rolling his eyes with a snort, Link stood up, kicking dirt onto their camp fire.  
”If you call _not dying_ unstoppable, then, yes. That could count as unstoppable.”  
Watching the fire sputter and burn out, he turned his attention upon gathering up his gear—or what remained of it.  
Much of it had fallen off in their tumble, primarily the items he had not secured tightly enough to his person.  
Half of what he had was what he had gathered the night before, including leftover cooked meat to tide them over, and herbs to continue to treat both of their injuries.  
  
Glancing to his shoulder with a wince, feeling the twinge of pain from the movement, he carefully adjusted the binding, double-checking that no blood had begun to seep through.  
The last thing he needed right before they set off again was for it to crack back open.  
  
”It will be slow going,” Link stated, tightening his pouches and replacing his Sheikah Slate back onto his hip.  
”As I’ll have to bear most of your weight against my own. You’re in no real condition to walk, but…”  
  
They couldn’t stay here any longer.  
Two nights were two nights too many, and staying in one spot meant surefire death.  
A monster would find them eventually, and they would be easy pickings.  
His bow and arrow were only decent at long range, and without any of his close combat weaponry, they were sitting ducks.  
And he refused to let them both die in the jaws of some pathetic Bokoblins.

“Alright. Do you think you’re ready?”  
  
Waiting for Sidon’s nod of confirmation, Link shifted his bow further back, reaching out to help the Prince up onto his feet.  
Almost instantly did his weight slouch onto him, Sidon grimacing.  
  
”It’s okay, take your time,” Link assured, and after a moment of readjusting and careful maneuvering, Sidon was properly on his feet, some of his weight against Link.  
By no means could he carry Sidon, hell, he could barely keep him up with his shoulder against his ribs, their difference in height making finding a proper balance a struggle.  As much as he wished he was able to to make their travel easier by miraculously growing, or Sidon magically becoming smaller, sharing some of his burden would have to be enough to get them where they needed to go.  
  
”We’ll be headed that way,” Link nodded in the direction he was referring to, “which is the closest route I found to the river. We’ll have to be careful, and _quiet_. There are Bokoblins everywhere in this forest—I did not see anything stronger than that, but, you never know.”  
Plenty of times had he been crept up upon by a Moblin, surprisingly quiet despite their immense size, when letting his guard down.  
Too often had he let himself believe there was not much more to an area, however, there was more at stake.  
He couldn’t risk relaxing for a second.  
  
”And this deep in Lanayru, there’ll be Lizalfos everywhere,” Link added in a half-grumble to himself, feeling true uncertainty at the recollection of the lizard-like monster.  
They had an affinity for water, and often did he confuse the water churned from their swimming to the underwater movement of fish traveling upstream.  
And then, of course, came the inevitable, _stupid_ action of dumping a Sheikah bomb into the waters, blissfully unaware of the irritated menace that would erupt out, mostly unscathed and absolutely _furious_.

As tempting as the quick trick to get food for the pair of them was, risking it was not something Link was willing to take.

“Don’t worry about me.”  
Link looked away from the log he had been glaring holes into, to Sidon, startled away from the menace of his own thoughts to the confident aura radiating from the Prince.  
”I’ve fared well against many a Lizalfos in my time,” Sidon boasted, lifting up an arm to flex. The wince partially hidden was not unseen by Link, however, Sidon’s glow was enough to make him smother any urge to chide him for moving too much.  
  
”I know I am rough for wear right now, but any creature that dare cross us will face me as well as you!”  
  
A flurry of ways things could go wrong, despite Sidon’s vote of confidence, rushed through Link’s head—how a monster could sneak up on the pair and knock Link out cold, rendering Sidon nearly defenseless with his injury.  
How if they got caught by a group, they could not both escape, with Sidon burdened by injury.  
Most of all did Link find himself _stuck_ on the fact he, when running each and every potential scenario of having to sacrifice himself or Sidon so at least one of them may survive, he could never leave Sidon alone.  
Hyrule needed its Chosen Hero, but even he was no more deserving of life than any one person within their realm.

With a smile stretched thin and stomach twisting into nervous knots, Link gave a nod, finding himself slipping back into the comfort of silence.  
Words were often too much, and too little, all at once.

 

There was some semblance of relief in feeling the rain dripping off of his skin and pattering against the line of his shoulders.  
Overheated and tired from sharing the burden of Sidon’s weight during their arduous trek through the trees, the cooling rain was liquid bliss.  
Briefly did Link shut his eyes to bask in it, sweat and rain water intermixing to all fall back off to dampen the soil their feet sunk into with every step.  
It had only been a couple of hours, yet felt like days with the sheer exhaustion creeping into his limbs, and the burning ache in his shoulder.

With nothing left to clean his wounds and nothing to rebandage it with, he allowed the same, old bandaging remain, blood seeping out from where the scabs had cracked open.  
Though Sidon had been too proud to speak of his own suffering, Link felt the sting of empathy every time he looked over.  
The skin, bright pink and likely sensitive, was still peeling, a process painful from Link’s own recollection of past wounds.  
While Zora anatomy was something completely foreign to him, he imagined the processes of healing was not much different from that of his own.

“Look, up ahead!”  
  
Jolting his eyes away from Sidon, hoping that he had not been caught staring mindlessly at him, to their path ahead, immediately did his paranoid thoughts wash away.  
Excitement came into their place, amazed by their quick progress.

“I can’t believe we did it,” Sidon said, looking back behind them to survey the rugged path they had created from the trees, back towards the river.  
”I’m glad we did,” Link sighed in turn, testing the wet sand clumping to his boot.  
With their combined weight, he didn’t want them to sink when stepping out to create a campsite for the night, even if their quick pace made the idea of continuing on a strong temptation.

There was still daylight, the sun not quite yet dipped beneath the trees, and they had yet to cross a single beast in their trek.  
Looking up to the skies and calculating travel time, with confidence did he gaze down the line of the beach.

“… Let’s keep going.”  
” _What?_ ”

Sidon jerked around to look at him, the glow of excitement he had in his eyes as he looked at the familiarity of the river turning to anxiety.  
”Don’t you think that’s a little much for today? Like you said, we’re both _hurt_ —”  
”But we made such fantastic progress, and I don’t want to lose that energy. Just a little while longer, and then we’ll stop for the night, I promise. You want to get back home as soon as possible, correct?”  
  
His internal struggle was visible, eyes darting between the river, and Link’s determined gaze, and eventually he sighed, the slump of his shoulders conceding defeat.  
  
”Fine. However, I’m walking on my own,” he stated, shifting away from Link’s arm curled around him. When they parted, his clothes stuck to Sidon’s damp skin, peeling away with a bit of skin upon separating.  
It took everything in his power to not cringe and wipe off the dead skin, and Sidon’s look of embarrassment was not missed before he looked away.

“Are you—”  
”Sure? Certainly. I may be sore, but the arrow didn’t strike deeply. It only pierced the first layer,” Sidon gave his chest a confident thump, visibly biting back a wince, “and the rest is still in tact. If I rely upon you during this whole journey, we will only go slower. We must think of _your_ exhaustion as well, Link. Do not think I haven’t seen you overworking yourself.”  
  
Link’s smile was grim, drawn taut as he used his sleeve to wipe sweat and rain from his brow, knowing full well the light shower would make it damp again.  
”Sacrifices need to be made,” came his curt retort, “but if this is what you have decided, then we will go with it. This is a decent enough beach to be walking, even if our feet may get stuck.”  
  
In example did he lift up his boot, the earth making a sucking noise as it popped out of the forming hole it had been gradually sinking into during their talk.  
  
Curiously watching the muck slowly oozing off, only to _plop_ all at once back to the ground, with a wiggle of his toes, Sidon mimicked him.  
His foot slipped easily off of the sand, what few grains stuck to the sole of his foot falling away.  
  
”We aren’t as suitable for land travel as we are for water, but in the very least, sand is not an enemy of ours!”  
The proud grin on Sidon’s face at this small success was enough to make Link snort, shaking his head as he let his own foot thump back down into the muck.  
Promptly did it sink a couple inches in.

“Don’t run ahead of me, then,” teased Link, lifting his leg up hard to wrench it from the sand.  
”Let’s just make a little bit of distance down this beach, and then I’m done. I need food before I start gnawing off this useless arm of mine.”

 

The heat lurking beneath his skin slipped away, replaced by a chill that made the steady rain no longer the pleasure it had started out as.  
Thoroughly soaked, stomach aching from hunger, and the obscured sun no longer shedding the same misty gray light as before, traded in now for the beginning of nightfall, Link squinted ahead.  
  
”This… this is far enough,” he decided, looking to Sidon.  
Immediately did he feel a pang of envy at Sidon’s quick turnaround, going from barely capable of trudging through the forest, to maintaining his pace several steps ahead of Link.  
The sand didn’t stick and suck onto his feet like they did his own, and the rain, chilling him to the bone, seemed to revitalize him, helping clean off the excess dirt and dead skin.  
He supposed that this is why the Zora thrived so grandly in this area.  
  
”Are you okay?”  
He hadn’t realized how his eyelids drooped and how his body seemed to slump when Sidon, ever so perky since the beginning of their walk, looked upon him with concern.  
How the tables had turned, indeed.  
  
”Tired, just tired.”  
He gave a dismissive wave, and began a quick look around, looking for _someplace_ for them to rest where they wouldn’t continue getting soaked.  
Perhaps such a thing would not be shabby for Sidon, but Link did not know how much more he could endure feeling cold water slipping down his back.  
And that was when he saw it, the perfect shelter in the form of a shack, its roof drooping and its paneling ripped away in places, sitting among the trees.  
  
”There!”  
He pointed, and Sidon’s gaze followed, Link feeling energy return to him at the thought of _finally_ being able to dry himself.

“If you,” he turned back to Sidon, shuddering and wiping at his neck as a fat raindrop struck it, “could check the river for any fish swimming close to the surface, I will go and investigate our spot for the night.”  
A stray branch near his foot was picked up, its weight tested as he gave it a good, hard swing.  
”Can never be too cautious.”  
  
Sidon, too, seemed revitalized, even if only at the idea of providing some use.  
”I’ll do more than just take a look,” was his perky response, and Link found himself biting back a smile as Sidon whipped around and made his way to the riverside.  
There was such a… _Relief_ in seeing Sidon returning to the energetic, pleasant persona he had boasted ever since their first encounter.  
The terror of seeing the life slowly slipping away from him was becoming faded, and truly did he begin to feel a small flare of hope that they would both make it back in one piece.  
He could do this.  
 _They_ could do this.

Idly shoving his stick into the wet sand, Link contemplated for a moment how long it would take them both to recover before they would set forth to reclaim Vah Ruta from Calamity Ganon.  
He hadn’t planned for getting those shock arrows to be such a toll on their progress—but he hadn’t planned for them to be mauled by that Lynel, either.

With a shake of his head, sharp and sudden to try and dispel the horrific recollection of how he had very well thought he was watching Sidon die, Link swept up his damp bangs to push them out of his eyes.  
Slicking back his hair, with new focus did he set his gaze upon the hut, using the stick, planted still in the mud, to push off.  
  
A quick, cautionary glance back showed no enemies in sight, and Sidon waist-deep in the water.  
A hot, anxious flash seared his chest and stomach, even at the reassurance that Sidon was unlike him, made for the water and far more comfortable in it than he. While the waters rushed around him, surging with the additional rain water, he was sturdily planted, his sharp gaze surveying for fish.  
Before Link looked away, he _jolted_ at how quick Sidon’s hand cut through the surface, within a blink withdrawing a writhing salmon and tossing it to the shore.  
Sharp fingernails (Talons? Claws? What could he even call them?) had pierced through the thickly scaled side of the fish, laid limp on the sand, rain washing away the trailing blood.

Looking up, his gaze locked with Sidon’s, who _glowed_ with the success of his catch, only turning brighter at Link’s encouraging smile.  
  
”I don’t want to be caught on his bad side,” Link noted quietly to himself upon Sidon turning away, shuddering at the idea of those fingers jamming through his own skin.  
He imagined it just as easy as how he had cut through the salmon, if not _easier_.

Forcing himself away, lest his thoughts delve deeper down _that_ dark rabbit hole, he trudged on to the hut, a glimmer of hope in the haze of rain.  
Stepping off the beach and into the mud of the woods, somewhat sturdier than what he had been forcing his feet out of, but still a struggle to shake off.  
Glancing up and away from his left boot, currently rooted in mud, to catch sight of the door to the hut, blissfully still in-tact, Link felt his excitement further.  
They could finally get out of this disgusting muck, he could find something to clean himself off with and get dry, and maybe get some sleep before—

Ice clamped around his spine at the sound of gears cranking and soft beeping, the fingers he had outstretched, nearly touching the wooden handle barely out of reach, snapping back to his stick.  
  
The single glowing eye of the decayed Guardian, sunken into the mud with legs struggling to find purchase to free itself, locked onto Link, and in that instant, his mind froze with a single thought.  
 _This is how I die._

“ _Ugh!_ ” With a sharp heave up, he released his foot from its muddy prison only to stumble back into muck that caved beneath him.  
Slipping back and slamming onto his back, wind knocked out of him, the stars dancing in his vision played around the glowing eye of the Guardian as it began to flash, beeping escalating, rising into a crescendo that made his ears ring with the sound of impending death.  
Desperately, wet earth holding onto him with an ever-shifting grip, he fumbled for the stick thrown from his hand upon his fall.  
Seconds felt like hours, each beep ticking by in slow motion, watching himself fail and fail and _fail_ in grabbing what was his only saving grace, what he knew would not save him, but his desperate brain convinced him was his only way to secure his life.

He shut his eyes when hearing the last beep from the Guardian, hearing it charge, wishing his last thoughts before death weren’t _regret_.

“ _Get down!_ ”

The world turned blindingly bright, his eyes, shooting back open, seeing nothing but brilliant blue that soon erupted into red hot flames.  
Neighboring trees caught fire, and stunned, having glimpsed only the end of the blast, did he watch debris fly away from them, the remnants of a log-turned-charcoal cast away from Sidon’s hands with a jerk.  
  
With a curse did he shake off his hands, palms turned pink from being burned, before snapping around, reaching for Link.  
”Get up, get up, get up!”  
  
His mind felt slowed down, as thick and murky as the mud Sidon wrenched him up from by his collar. Legs finding rhythm in Sidon’s push and the pull of his hands clamped onto his forearm, dragging him away, through the ringing in his ears did he hear the rising chime of the Guardian, and found himself _running_.  
Vision blurred, head heavy, hearing barely back into place, Link placed faith into Sidon’s ushering hands as they fled from the Guardian’s line of sight, running ‘til Link could no longer hear the beep and the following blast that sounded so distant now.  
  
Only when Sidon’s hand let go did he allow himself to stop, crashing down to the beach, knees sinking into the sand as he heaved, lungs raw and hurting.  
 _I’m alive._ **_I’m alive._**

Hardly could he believe it, that the blast aimed directly for him had _failed_.  
So many times had he seen others catch even the _edge_ of a direct Guardian blast and had their limbs blown off, their skulls sliced in half.  
Yet, whether by sheer luck or some outside force, a mere log had withstood the hit for them both.  
… For them _both_.

  
” _Sidon_ —”

Link did not need to look up, for Sidon’s hands, still so warm from protecting them, cupped his cheeks and drew his face up for him.  
He was met by anxious eyes and a face marked with small cuts likely from the flying bits of bark that had sliced him from the explosion.  
A single trail of blood dripped down from the corner of his right eye like a red tear drop.  
  
”Are you okay?! I had been so involved in my own task, when I had heard it, I almost didn’t–I didn’t think, I just–Are you _okay?_ ”  
  
Mind working hard to catch up to what was currently happening, piecing together all that had occurred, from Link accidentally stepping into the Guardian’s line of sight, up until Sidon protected him from the blast, Link blinked owlishly back.  
Had his plan not worked, they _both_ would have died.  
  
”… You saved my life.”  
”Yes, but are _you_ —”  
”Why didn’t you save yourself?”  
  
Dozens of times had he been ambushed by monsters, overwhelmed on foot and horseback alike, and watched as travelers galloped by on their own steeds or fled wailing at the sight.  
Even those with weaponry, and whom he caught later on their travels bragging of their past encounters with the beasts, never cast him a second glance as they thought of themselves.  
Often had he been their savior, and when the opportunity arose for them to return the favor, they turned a blind eye.  
Their own mortality was too much to risk.

“What?”  
Sidon looked baffled by the question, brows furrowed as he surveyed Link.  
”Did you hit your head before I got there? You’re my friend—I could never leave you to die. Even if it means dying with you.”  
  
 _Even if it means dying with you._

It took everything in Link’s power not to _gape_ , not to be completely awestruck by this selfless statement, thoughtless and spoken with a conviction many could not summon forth in their own words.  
In a world truly designed for the strongest, where the weak burdened by physical ailment or emotional attachment could not survive, _friends_ were not commonplace.  
Friends meant personal sacrifices, doubled risk, a higher potential of death.  
Friends were reserved for those with roots planted, who knew risk was minimal, and knew that upon travel becoming a necessity when home had become like the rest of Hyrule, a burning wreckage, friendships would dissolve.  
  
As Hyrule’s Chosen Hero, _friendship_ was not in his schedule of rescuing the world.  
A tool, a figurehead, a toss-away with a singular use that became nonexistent in the wake of peacetime. Emotionally attaching himself to anyone was a recipe for disaster, whether he die, or he discover their fondness for him was rooted wholly in his status.

“… Link?”  
  
The warmth of Sidon’s hands had long since faded away, and he jerked his head up from where his gaze had been staring blankly into the sand.  
Sidon’s eyes, tender and concerned, left a cold discomfort, and a realization that left him chilled in a way that was more than physical.  
 _  
_ _He was getting attached._  
  
”I-I’m fine.”  
When Sidon reached to help him as he stood up, he swatted his hand away, and ignored the hurt, confused expression that followed as he uselessly tried to dust off the mud sticking to his knees.  
His heart still thrummed in his chest like a startled bird, and with a slow, calming breath, Link gazed past Sidon, and to the hut in the distance, still altogether despite all that had transpired.  
  
”… Go back to the fish you caught, and we’ll just find a better spot in the woods,” Link said after a moment of quiet, not daring to look Sidon in the eye.  
He needed to think, he needed time to just _think_.  
Sidon fretting over him, and his own whirlwind of thoughts desperate for quiet to sort through each one, were not a good combination.  
Not right now.  
  
”I promise I’ll be careful,” he added quickly when hearing the beginning of Sidon protesting, sending him a quick look of reassurance, before looking away.  
”I’m a little… Shaken up, but I’m physically okay. No new injuries. I’ll be more careful this time and stay away from the hut.”  
  
Link didn’t bother for verbal confirmation from Sidon, nor did he provide any other instruction as he, with a few, stumbling steps, walked away, and back to the shroud of trees.  
  
He just needed to _think_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for your patience with this, i know it's been awhile since my last update! i promise i haven't forgotten about these two and their current ordeal ;D  
> if you want to help me in being able to get the time to continue writing, [buying me a ko-fi](http://ko-fi.com/A550AJX) allows me to creep ever so closer to my goal of financially supporting myself!
> 
> next time i see you guys, it'll be with chapter five!


	5. Chapter 5

Night was beginning to fall upon the Zora’s Domain when they crested the hill and laid eyes upon it for the first time in what felt like weeks.  
Sore, bruised, and tired, the remainder of their exhausting journey had been spent in tense silence, the entirety of which Link had felt Sidon’s eyes burning into his back.  
He did not need to look back to see the concern, hurt, and confusion that would be written upon his face, for he had already, accidentally, caught a glimpse of that stare.  
It was understandable, of course---for him to go from amiable to having his lips tightly sealed, there seemed to be no reason.  
No reason beyond his own, muddied emotions, twisted and knotted together with his confused thoughts.

 

But the sight of the Domain was one of absolute relief, feeling his heavy chest lighten as for the first time in hours, he looked back to Sidon, a worn smile creasing his lips, and spoke.

 

“We made it.”  
  
Sidon’s smile, toothy and broad, was nearly enough to uplift his spirits further, but remembrance of the prince’s near-sacrifice was enough to turn him serious again, gaze solemn as he located the path.  
His mission may very well end in his own death, and he need not drag Sidon into it due to attachment.  
In the end, he was destined to save the princess, and his own personal desires and relationships needed to be set aside until he finished his primary task.  
  
Doing his best not to think much of the grim reality of his fate, he motioned for Sidon to follow as he carefully struck out a path down the hill.  
The grass was slick, the mud sticking to his boots as he attempted to find the driest spots to carve out a path.  
  
”Link, I was thinking---”  
Link did a bit of a shuffle to avoid a puddle, trying his best not to instinctively look to Sidon as he spoke, focusing on the path ahead.  
  
”Uh-huh.”  
  
”You’ve been quiet this whole way---”  
  
”Yeah.”  
  
”---and I wanted to make sure---”

  
”Yes?”

 

“--that you’re oka---”  
  
Making the mistake of lifting his head to acknowledge Sidon’s concerns, mouth partly open in an explanation, all that came out was a startled yelp as his foot slipped up on the grass.  
Eyes wide, hands fumbling through thin air for a grip, his outstretched fingers found a firm hand, his gaze briefly catching sight of Sidon trying to grapple onto him before he hit the ground.  
Rather, before they __both__ hit the ground.

 

Momentum and gravity dragging them both down, the slick hill served as a slide as they went speeding down, Link’s kicking feet doing nothing to slow them.  
Frantic eyes looking from Sidon, to the end of their ride that was the bottom of the hill, he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to Hylia for a graceful landing.  
And a graceful landing was anything __but__ what he got, voice mustering something of a half-choked squeak as they hit the ground, and __bounced__ , ricocheting off to land in a heap of limbs.

 

Head spinning, the world slowing its fervent dance as he recovered from that tumble, it was only after a few dazed seconds of trying to ground himself that he realized he hadn’t landed on soft, plush ground, but rather a soft, plush __shark__.

Scrambling quickly at the sacrifice of his screaming, aching muscles, he swung up onto his feet and offered an immediate hand for Sidon to take, concerned eyes raking over him.  
__Of course__ he had to land perfectly onto the one who was not only the __prince__ of all Zora, but also likely the most __injured__ of all Zora.  
To aggravate his wounds further by slamming into him as he did was not on the top of his list.

 

“Are you okay?”  
  
Gaze nervously expectant, watching as Sidon seemed to recover himself, he gave a slow shake of his head, and then blinked up at him.  
  
”… Well that was fun,” he remarked, sharp teeth put on display with a dazzling smile as he accepted Link’s hand, stumbling onto his feet.  
”I’m fine--- _ _great__ , actually! We made it!”  
  
His excitement contagious, Link could not help but smile back---up until realizing he still clasped his hand in his own for far too many seconds extra, quick to pull back.  
He was not ignorant to the brief flash of confusion (and was that __hurt?__ ) on Sidon’s face before he promptly recovered, looking to the grandeur bridge that would take them to the heart of the city.

“Let’s go,” Sidon said, his voice turned serious as he looked to Link.  
With a nod, he dusted himself off, and walked in step with the Zora, steeling himself for what was to come.

 ------------------------------------------------------

 

The guards had swarmed them when they had arrived, frantic and excited and nervous all at once.  
Being as injured as they both were, soaked and in need of proper medical treatment, neither were granted the opportunity to see the king, swept off to separate areas.  
The last glimpse he had of Sidon was him promising to see him once they were both released from treatment.  
  
That had been two days ago now, Link foggily recalling his wounds being treated and bandaged before he fell asleep.  
Exhaustion had won the battle against his mind, and emerging from the room set up for him, he felt a quiet yearning to go back. Dry, comfortable, __warm__ \---it all left as the first fat raindrops hit his shirt, and he fought with himself not to go hide back in bed.  
But was it so wrong to wish for a day of reprieve from being soaked to the bone, freezing and yearning for quiet?

 

Pushing aside his dismal thoughts and stepping out further into the cold and rain, with a quick nod to the guard standing watch at his door, he made his way for the throne room.

 

It seemed that he was not the only one with the king in mind, stepping into the covered, expansive room to find Sidon and the decrepit old adviser of Dorephan’s.  
  
”He is too injured,” Sidon insisted, looking between Muzu and his father, clearly blissfully unaware of Link’s quiet entrance.  
”The Domain can endure a bit more rainfall, but he cannot--”  
”It isn’t the Domain that will suffer, but the __reservoir!__ ”

 

Link’s eyes shot to Muzu, who’s scowl was almost as deep as the lake itself, glaring down the crown prince.  
”We don’t know when it might give, and when it DOES, it wont only be the Domain in danger! If the Hylian wishes to prove himself, then now is the time.”  
  
For the first time since meeting him, Link saw true anger enter Sidon’s typically peaceful gaze, expression darkening as he turned upon him.  
” _ _Prove himself?__  He __volunteered__ for this, and it is us who should be proving how GRATEFUL we are for it!”  
  
Muzu’s lip curled, serrated teeth caught in a sneer as he replied, “This is nothing more than him paying back for taking away our sweet Mipha. If it weren’t for that blasted Divine Beast, I’d rather see him __drowned__ for his crime.”  
A chill overtook Link at the hatred seeping from those words, and it seemed it was not only him who suffered from the pure malice coming from Muzu.  
Looking as if he had physically struck him with his words, Sidon gaped before it all seemed to crash back in like waves hitting the shore, a snarl contorting features Link never knew could harden so.

 

Sidon’s hand rose, sharp claws glinting as his arm began to swing, “How __dare__ you _ _\---!__ ”

 

“ENOUGH!”  
  
The booming roar of King Dorephan was enough to shake the very infrastructure of the throne room, all within it wincing and cowing down at the power of such a voice.  
  
”I am sick of these petty arguments,” growled Dorephan from his throne, his eyes turning from his son and adviser, to that of Link, still caught halfway in the doorway.  
”If anyone shall be making a decision, it shall be Link himself. What say you, Champion?”  
  
Link did his best to not look at Sidon nor Muzu, focusing only on King Dorephan and his patient stare.  
What choice would he make?  
He was indeed still exhausted, wounds still healing.  
But Muzu was also right in that he felt this mission was a sort of redemption for what had happened to Mipha, even if she had taken on her mission on her own accord.  
  
Either way, the decision would be hard, and the path beyond it only harder.

 

“I’ll do it.”  
  
He saw Sidon’s crestfallen, concerned look out of the corner of his eye, and likewise did he catch Muzu’s derisive snort, the Zora turning his back upon him.  
  
”Then so it shall be.” Dorephan nodded, motioning to Muzu to draw his attention.  
”Repair his armor. You will set off at daybreak, for the chill of night will be too much for your body. Even with Mipha’s armor protecting you, you remain too exposed to the elements to take such a risk. Do you have any of the shock arrows left from the Lynel?”  
  
Muzu, grumbling beneath his breath, turned sharply to vanish out of the throne room, likely to Link’s quarters to retrieve the armor. Only watching him for an instant, Link turned back to give King Dorephan a solemn nod of confirmation.  
”I have enough. They are with my quiver in my quarters.”  
  
”Ready them, and ready the rest of your weapons. One of the guards shall assist in arming you with what you may need.”  
  
”And I will come with you!”  
  
Thumping a fist against his chest, Sidon’s expression, once shocked by Link’s decision, turned grim and serious.  
”Armor or no, you will not be able to swim quickly enough to avoid Vah Ruta’s attacks. I will be your fins, and guide you to her.”  
  
Thinking to protest, not wanting to put Sidon in any further harm, the beginnings of such was interrupted by King Dorephan hum, looking up to the king once more.  
”So be it. You will honor your people and Mipha’s memory by helping the Champion enter Vah Ruta. You both have my blessings.”  
  
Stomach twisting into knots, thoughts filling with the potential sacrifice Sidon may be making, much as his sister before, Link was quick to dip into a half-bow, turning sharp and exiting the chamber to pursue Sidon back into the heart of the Domain.

 

“Are you insane?!”  
As small as he may be, he remained strong, reaching out and seizing Sidon’s forearm with a sharp yank, face distraught.  
  
”Are __you?__ ”  
Sidon, not fighting against his hold, looked down upon him, his serious expression making him look so much older and grim.  
”You are still injured, you have only just returned from our near-death experience with the Lynel, and yet you are already promising to face Vah Ruta. I can’t let you go alone. I’m not letting you die.”  
  
Link’s emotions were hard to pick apart, anger and uncertainty and fear combining into one ugly beast.  
__This wasn’t supposed how it was meant to go__.  
__He__ was the one meant to be the sacrifice, the disposable hero sent off to do what no one else was willing to.  
To save the lives of many, he would sacrifice his own, but he couldn’t do that if he could not even keep Sidon safe from himself.  
  
”You can’t go--” Link started, watching as Sidon wrenched himself out of his grip, his eyes narrowing and teeth beginning to flash.  
” _ _Why can’t you just let me help you, Link?!__ ”

 

Link froze, mouth agape, Sidon’s yell leaving him stunned.  
His words did not come quickly enough, stumbling and stuttering through as Sidon grimaced, hiding his face with a hand as he turned away.

 

“I will meet you at dawn,” he muttered, walking away as Link began to stretch out a hand, frantic.  
  
”Wait, Sidon, __wait---!__ ”  
  
A water dweller Sidon may be, but his legs were plenty long enough to swiftly take him away, disappearing off to the other end of the Domain with Link taking only one, stumbling step after, heart sinking deep into his stomach.  
Was it wrong of him to try and deny Sidon what he wanted if he had meant it with good intentions?  
Was it wrong to try and protect him, even if Sidon was trying to do the same?  
  
Staring long at the spot where Sidon had once stood, wondering what he could have done differently, __if__  there was anything he could have done differently, Link sighed slow, shaking his head.  
  
”Dawn… it is.”  
  
\----------------------------------

 

 

Link was drowning.

 

It was an almost blissful sensation, compared to that of the other near-death scenarios he had been caught up in. There were no monsters snapping at his heels, no person there with him to suffer a kindred fate.  
It was only him and the dark reach of the water, bubbles drifting past as he sunk lower and lower.  
  
Nearly did he shut his eyes, ready to embrace the calm and fall deep into it, until he felt the water churn, as if some great fish had slapped its tail near him.  
Eyes snapping open wide, becoming all too aware of the painful burn of his lungs and how slow he moved, he looked up to see a shadow blocking out the dim light from above.  
Closer it swam until his visibility of it cleared, mouth parting to try to choke out a horrified __no__ as water rushed in to smother him.  
  
Sidon’s hand reached for him, the Zora’s face taut with fear, trying to grapple onto one of his arms that drifted down through the water.  
__Don’t,__  he tried, choking on another lungful, sputtering as with every gasp he was met with more water.  
Something felt __wrong__ , his mind screaming that something terrible would happen if Sidon reached him, that he couldn’t let him touch him.  
In the water he was far too slow to move away, Sidon naturally swifter, reaching for him as Link tried to give another bubbling protest as his hand clamped around his forearm.  
  
Sidon looked to him, and their eyes locked, and for a moment, as he gazed into Sidon’s happy gaze, he thought everything would be alright.  
When the harpoon split through Sidon’s chest, the sharp tip brushing against him, he swore he could hear the scream that ripped out of him and sent bubbles surging to the surface.  
The light left Sidon’s eyes, and the rope on the end of the harpoon yanked, Link feeling as though his limbs were stone as he tried to reach, tried to grab him.  
  
His hand fumbled, brushing Sidon’s fingertips, his mouth caught in a scream, __this couldn’t be happening, he couldn’t let him die, don’t---__

 

“ _ _Gah!__ ”  
Breathing hard, sweat dripping down his brow, Link shook himself from the remnants of his nightmare, his heart pounding.  
Skin clammy and sweat-slicked, for a moment did he fear that the sweat was in fact water from being dragged out, though a quick look around reassured him that it was morning.  
It was morning, and it had all just been a dream.

 

Just a dream.

 

Counting each breath, fingers massaging his thighs as he tried to calm himself down, nearly did he not notice the guard shifting to the door, peering in.

 

“Prince Sidon awaits you at the mouth of the Domain, Champion.”  
  
Pausing, feeling somewhat embarrassed to be caught in such a vulnerable moment, with a quick nod, Link flipped back his blanket and moved to dress.  
”Thank you,” he managed after clearing his throat, locking eyes to confirm he had heard them, and was met with the privacy he wanted, the door shut.  
  
”It will be fine,” he muttered, pulling on his boots and fumbling for his shirt, pulling it on and reaching for the Zora Armor to lay on top.  
”It will be… Fine.”

 ------------------------------------------------

 

The morning was cold, damp, and dark.  
Even when knowing the sun had risen, every once in awhile during his trek to meet up with Sidon, Link glanced again at the sky to ensure it wasn’t actually night.  
The rainclouds had only grown darker, thunder rumbling, and once, when he took another glance up, he watched lightning crack across the sky.  
Impulse commanded him to double-check that he had no weapons that would draw the lightning close, and for a half-second, he wondered if the shock arrows would lure over the lightning.  
If he could command the lightning with these arrows, would he be able to conquer Vah Ruta more easily?

 

Unwittingly did he cross the threshold to the reservoir, looking around at his new surroundings and casting a lingering stare back.  
Easily could he turn around and vanish, leaving the call to action unanswered and go back to his horse and run.  
He was more than capable of hiding from the Calamity, and with his memories gone, what ties did he have that made him morally obligated to help Zelda?  
  
His choices laid out before him, Link gazed upon the path to freedom, the path that would take him away from what may very kill him, and turned his back on it, marching into the heart of the East Reservoir Lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a HUGE thank you to those who continue to keep up with this work and still wait for chapters!  
> my work life has been immensely busy, but if you want to help me by [tipping me on ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/A550AJX), it helps me with paying bills and focusing more on my writing!
> 
> when you see link and sidon next in chapter six, we will finally be facing up against vah ruta.


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